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.&. WARNING
Drivers who are unbelted, out of position or
too close to the airbag can be seriously in
jured by an airbag as it unfolds. To help re
duce the risk of serious personal injury:
- Always
adjust the driver's seat and the
steering wheel so that there are at least
10 in (25 cm) between your breastbone and
the steering wheel.
-Always adjust the driver's seat and the
steering wheel so that there are at least 4 in
(10 cm) between the knees and the lower
part of the instrument panel.
- Always hold
the steering wheel on the out
side of the steering wheel rim with your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o 'clock posi
tions to help reduce the risk of personal in
jury if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never hold
the steering wheel at the
12 o'clock position or with your hands at
other positions inside the steering wheel
rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding
the steering wheel the wrong way can cause
serious injuries to the hands, arms and head
if
the driver's airbag inflates
-
Pointing the steering wheel toward your
face
decreases the ability of the supplemen
tal driver's airbag to protect you in a colli
sion.
- Always
sit in an upright position and never
lean
against or place any part of your body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Before driving, always
adjust the front seats
properly and make sure that all passengers
are properly restrained.
- Never
adjust the seats while the vehicle is
moving. Your seat may move unexpectedly
and you could lose control of the vehicle .
- Never drive with
the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due
to incorrect positioning of the safety belt
and improper seating position .
- Children
must always ride in child seats
Q page 212. Special precautions apply
-
Safe driving
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat Q page 188.
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position is
important for safe, relaxed driving.
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the seat for the front passenger
to the following position:
... Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position and your back comes in full
contact with it whenever the vehicle is moving.
... Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of the
front passenger seat.
"' Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
Qpage 184.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
front passenger's seat, see Q page 44.
A WARNING
personal injury:
-
Passengers must always sit in an upright po
sition and never lean against or place any
part of their body too close to the area
where the airbags are located.
-
Passengers who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the airbag can be seri
ously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye.
- Always
make sure that there are at least
10 in (25 cm) between the front passen
ger's breastbone and the instrument panel.
- Always
make sure that there are at least 4 in
(10 cm) between the front passenger's
knees and the lower part of the instrument
panel.
- Each
passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat. ..,.
173
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What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in
jured or killed . Alway s wear your
safety belts!
Fig. 148 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
F ig .
149 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forward and strike
the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, in
strument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way q fig. 148. This impact with the vehi
cle i
nterior has all the energy they had just be
fore
the crash.
Never rely
on airbags alone for protection. Even
when
they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection . Airbags are not supposed to deploy in
all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in
cluding
the driver, must wear safety belts cor
rectly
in order to minimize the risk of severe in
jury
or death in a crash.
182
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once
and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protection in those accidents in which
airbags
are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown out of the vehicle where even
more severe or fatal injuries can occur .
I t is
also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
~fig. 149. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
injure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace
the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
Fig. 150 Driver is correctly restrained in a sudden braking
man euver.
Safety belts used properly can make a big diffe r
ence. Safety
belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy leve ls ap
pli ed
to the body In an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri
ous injuries . In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more
gently or "softly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinetic energy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerable" and less likely to cause injury . .,..
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Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their
safety belts and be in a prop
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen
gers, before driving off, always:
,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly<::;> page 172,
,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 44,
,. Wear safety belts properly ¢page 183,
,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢page 212.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper·
Ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions r=.> page 172, Correct
passenger seating positions . For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page45.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained¢ page 212.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that
prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat wi th the safety belt properly fastened and
188
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad
vanced Airbag
System, please contact your au
thorized Audi
dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system deploys , a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im
mediately after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in th e blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy . Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down
and limit the occupant's forward move
ment. Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both
front a irbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The triggering of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con
trol unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly
damaged as a result of the co llision. Vehi
cle
damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle
damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably
between one collision and another, it is not possi
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind
and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags. Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will Iii>
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also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
roll-overs.
Always rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and only
in certain kinds of collisions . Your safety
belts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
example, when your vehicle strikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision.
This
is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supplementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most
effectively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r:::;.page 180.
A WARNING
-
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in-
strument panel will decrease the effective
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
of personal injury in a collision.
- Never
sit closer than 10 in (25 cm) to the
steering wheel or instrument panel.
-
If you cannot sit more than 10 in (25 cm)
from the steering wheel, investigate wheth
er adaptive equipment may be available to
held you reach the pedals and increase your
seating distance from the steering wheel.
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit
t ing sideways
or out of position in any way,
your risk
of injury is much higher.
-
You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce
the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always
wear safety belts properly
Q page 184, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil
dren are not properly restrained, they may
be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never
let children ride unrestrained or im
properly
restrained in the vehicle. Adjust the
front seats properly .
- Never ride with
the backrest reclined .
Airbag system
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer
ing wheel or the instrument panel
r:=:>page 172.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never place your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre
vent serious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline
the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air
bag during braking
or in a sudden maneu
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
projectiles and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING ___,j
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must be
replaced.
-
Use only original equipment airbags ap
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any
airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never
permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat -some
important things to know
"' Be sure to read the important information and
head the WARNINGS for important details
about children and Advanced Airbags
r:::;.page 212.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad
vanced Airbag
System, make certain that all chil
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al
ways ride
in the back seat properly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous
place for a child to ride . The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
seat. It can be a very dangerous place for an in-
fant or a child in a rearward -facing seat. ..,.
189
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not, or to signal that it is occupied by some
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way
that is different from the way it would
have worked
without the object on the seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front
seat occu
pants.
Fig. 155 Locat ion of driver airbag : in steering wheel
Fig.
156 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advance d Air
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi
cle
was manufactured. The safety belts for the
front seats have "pretensioners" that help to
take slack out of the belt system. The pretension
ers are also activated by the electronic control
unit for the airbag system.
192
The front safety belts also have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag
for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub i::> fig. 155 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel i::> fig. 156. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle. We urge you to read the detailed
information about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children .
_&WARNING
-
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental protection.
-Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly
worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always
wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly
restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po
sitions
to help reduce the risk of personal in
jury if the driver's airbag inflates.
-Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
_&WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always
make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates. _____ ___.
Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine -Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can
become projectiles when the airbag de
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold
things in your hands or on your
lap
when the vehicle is in use.
-Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never
attach then to the doors or the wind
shield; never place
them over or near or at
tach them to the area marked ,.AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never
attach objects to the windshield
above
the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such
objects could cause serious in
jury
in a collision, especially when the air
bags inflate.
- Never recline
the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be
ing
too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although
the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on
the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag
System can deploy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
-I
Airbag system
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heavier
than the typical one-year old child is
on
the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position .
- For
their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag
System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 asap
plicable at the time your vehicle was manufac
tured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe
ty belt and wearing it properly. This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low risk" require-
ments for 3 and 6 year-old children on the pas
senger side and very small adults on the driver
side. The low risk
deployment criteria are intend
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
example, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition,
the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements of .,..
193
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backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always
install rearward-facing child re
straints on the rear seat.
-If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear
facing child
seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-fac ing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and cer t ified by its man
ufacturer for use on a fron t seat with a pas
senger front and side airbag .
- Never
put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air
bag as possible, before install ing the for
ward-facing child
restraint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upright positio n.
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is occupied by some
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. T he presence of addi
tional objec ts could cause the passenger
fro nt airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way
that is different from the way it would
have worked
without the object on the seat.
- Make
sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Airbag system
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lo t
of ve ry important parts of the Advan ced Airb ag
System in it. These parts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wiring, brackets,
and more. The control unit monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected c> page 200. Because
the front passenger seat contai ns important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from being damaged.
Dam age to the seat m ay prevent the Advan ced
Airbag
System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the ve hicl e tha t
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
prov ide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
-
An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control un it "decides" whether to f ir e the front
airbags based on the information rece ived from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated.
-
An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for the
driver inside the steering wheel hub .
-
An Adva nced Airbag with gas generator inside
the instrument panel for the front passenger.
- A
capacitive passenger detection system under
neath the front passenger seat cove r. This sys
tem measures the electrica l capacitance of the
pe rson in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuous ly to the electronic control
u
nit to reg ulate deployment of t he front Ad
vanced Airbag on
the passenger side.
-
An airbag monitori ng system and ind ic a tor
ligh t in t he i nstrument cl us ter c>poge 199.
-A sensor in each front seat registers t he d is
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or ins trument panel. The infor-
mation registered is sent continuousl y to the ...
195
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When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy. It
could irritate skin.
It is important to remember that while the sup
plemental airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injuries,
for example swelling , bruising and minor abra
sions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supplement the three
point safety belts only in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle deceleration is high enough
to deploy the airbags.
Front airbag s will not deploy:
-ifthe ignit ion is switched off when a crash oc-
curs,
-in side collisions,
-
in rear-end collisions,
-
in rollovers,
-
when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control unit.
The front passenge r airbag will also not
deploy:
-when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
-
when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas
senger side frontal airbag must be switc hed off
by the electronic control unit (the PASSENGER
AIR
BAG OFF light Q page 200 and how they
work comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of serious injury in crashes.
-To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al
ways
sit in an upright position, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
198
-Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured
by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye Q page 189.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal
led
on the front passenger seat will be seri
ously injured
and can be killed if the front air
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing
child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer
ing with the way the airbag unfolds or by be
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold
things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
-
-Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat. Objects could
move in
to the area of the front airbags dur
ing braking or other sudden maneuver and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious personal injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place
or attach accessories or other
objects (such as cup holders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked
"AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru
ment panel, seat backrests or between